How can I improve my child’s vocabulary?
A question I am often asked, usually in preparation for the 11 plus or entrance exams, but which is useful for all children (and adults!). There’s lot of things you can do to help.
Table of Contents
read / peruse / pore over
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss
Reading is probably the best way to learn new words, and possibly the most fun.
Read from a variety of sources. Books – fiction and non-fiction. Newspapers (online or paper), blogs. Try to read with your child, read to them and have them read to you or perhaps a younger sibling.
It’s through reading that we learn about life, whether real or make-believe.
“Reading is one form of escape. Running for your life is another.” ― Lemony Snicket
As well as the usual suspect, Harry Potter, one of my favourites is Lemony Snicket – Series of Unfortunate of Events for his playful use of words. Google more of his quotes / extracts and see what I mean.
Discuss with your child what you have read. Have your child tell you about their latest book, the characters and how they are feeling. What do they think will happen next?
dictionary / lexicon / word list
I certainly wouldn’t sit down to read a dictionary or thesaurus, but it is always useful to have one to hand.
Language is forever evolving, with new words being added to ‘the dictionary’ every year, and others falling into disuse.
With the growth of tech, most adults (and children) will usually use an online dictionary to check word meanings, spellings and antonyms. (I know I do!)
But for children, there is a need to have the skills to look up a word, understand alphabet order, and read from paper.
Taking that extra time to look something up means you are more likely to remember it, so I always recommend having a dictionary and thesaurus in book form.
The average adult dictionary is generally difficult to use and interpret, so I have recommendations for a dictionary and thesaurus for children (ages 8-15).
explore / scout / investigate
Explore words – pick a ‘word of the day’ and try to use it. All day. Perhaps set a challenge with your family, whereby everyone has to guess what your word is?!
Be ambitious / aspiring / enterprising. Try not to use ‘nice’ or ‘good’, but think of as many synonyms as you can.
Synonyms for nice : pleasant, enjoyable, lovely, kind, delightful, amusing ….
Synonyms for good : fine, satisfactory, enjoyable, worthy, obedient, admirable….
synonym – a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language
antonym – a word opposite in meaning to another
play / entertain / recreation
Play word games. Learning through play is important, and even as adults we should make time for this.
Play all the classics, e.g. Scrabble, crosswords, wordsearch, etc – all available in books, newspapers and the ubiquitous internet.
If your child has access to a tablet / phone then download an app so they can expand their lexicon.
My current favourite word game is Wordle. Unless you have been hiding under a rock, the link to play this every day can be found at New York Times Wordle.
recommend / advocate / endorse
But if you are preparing your child for the 11 plus or entrance exams and you want to improve their vocabulary?
I can thoroughly recommend a card game called Whizz Opposites and/or Whizz Match.
A surprisingly simple card game, which can be played solo, and seems to encourage even the most reluctant students to look words up in a dictionary / thesaurus!
Like this? Read more below…
About Me
My name is Nicola Bhalerao and I am a private tutor based in Warwick. Since 2013, I have provided one-to-one tuition for children and adults. I specialise in maths tutoring, but cater for different requests, ranging from 11+ / entrance exams to various uses of maths, e.g. : interviews, job promotions, GCSE retakes, Functional Skills, nursing, teaching – any situation where confidence in maths is required.
My background is in computing, with a Computer Science degree from Warwick University. I have worked many years as a programmer, latterly in the games industry. Both my sons were tutored by me for the 11+ (they went to a local grammar school). I received training for teaching secondary school maths and I am fully CRB checked.
Read here for more information on tuition for your child or tuition for yourself or another adult.
"Nicola has been very supportive by helping me to fill in the blanks left over from my high school education. This has been crucial to improving my confidence in mathematics"
"I was lacking confidence in maths. Nicola was a fantastic teacher and really helped to improve my technique and approach to maths problems. She is patient, understanding and friendly"
"She was very friendly and professional. After a few sessions I felt much more confident in my ability and passed the numerical reasoning tests. She explains things very clearly"
"Nicola was a patient tutor, always helpful in answering any questions I had. I’d always found maths quite a scary subject, but through Nicola's tutoring I found I built confidence with the subject"
"Nicola has been very supportive by helping me to fill in the blanks left over from my high school education. This has been crucial to improving my confidence in mathematics"
"I was lacking confidence in maths. Nicola was a fantastic teacher and really helped to improve my technique and approach to maths problems. She is patient, understanding and friendly"
"She was very friendly and professional. After a few sessions I felt much more confident in my ability and passed the numerical reasoning tests. She explains things very clearly"
"Nicola was a patient tutor, always helpful in answering any questions I had. I’d always found maths quite a scary subject, but through Nicola's tutoring I found I built confidence with the subject"